A Loving Family (29 page)

‘Of course he does. He would be a complete fool if he didn't see you for what you are, but Tommy is not a reliable person, Rosa. He's never serious about anything.'

‘He's fun and he makes me laugh.' Rosa studied her reflection with a critical eye. ‘No wonder I looked haggard.' She sighed. ‘Life hasn't been easy since we were turned out of our old home. I love it here and I feel happy for the first time in ages. Is that so wrong?'

‘Of course not,' Stella said gently. ‘But all I was going to say was . . .' Her words were drowned out by the sound of someone hammering on the door.

‘Miss Rivenhall, open the door, please.' Mrs Dunkley's voice rose to a screech. ‘Such goings-on in the kitchen.'

Stella rushed to the door and opened it. ‘What's the matter?'

‘Miss Rivenhall's aunt is creating havoc. Come quickly.'

STELLA AND ROSA
arrived in the kitchen to find Jacinta tearing things off the shelf in the larder. Mrs Hawthorne had slumped in her chair by the fire in a swoon and Annie was fanning her with a duster, while Ida had hysterics in the corner of the room. Stella ran to the cupboard and had to physically restrain her mother. ‘Stop it, Ma,' she whispered. ‘Stop this at once.'

‘There must be some in here,' Jacinta moaned. ‘I need my medicine, Stella. Get it for me.'

‘What is it she wants?' Rosa asked in a low voice. ‘Is it laudanum?'

Stella nodded, using all her strength to pin her mother's arms to her side. ‘She's desperate. I think perhaps she ought to have a little just to keep her quiet.'

‘This is all Uncle Gervase's fault.' Rosa stepped back into the kitchen, holding up her hands. ‘It's all right. Everything is under control. My poor aunt was sleepwalking and having night terrors.'

‘I never seen nothing like it,' Annie said, waving the duster energetically in front of Cook's face.

Mrs Hawthorne sat up with a start. ‘You nearly had me eye out, girl. Give me that rag and stop fussing.'

Rosa stepped over the broken shards of a jam pot. ‘I am so sorry for the mess, Cook. My aunt doesn't know what she's doing.'

‘I had a cousin who had night terrors.' Mrs Hawthorne rose to her feet. ‘Poor Flossie walked into the duck pond.'

‘Poor thing,' Annie said sympathetically. ‘Did she catch cold?'

‘She drowned.' Mrs Hawthorne shook her head. ‘They fished her out next morning with waterweed in her hair. She'd never looked so clean.'

Stella helped her mother to a chair. ‘Is there any laudanum, Mrs Dunkley? I asked earlier but no one seemed to know.'

‘I keep some in my medicine chest.' Mrs Dunkley took a chatelaine from her waist and selected a key. ‘Wait here and I'll fetch it. Then perhaps we can all get to bed. This is very irregular, miss.'

‘I know,' Rosa said humbly. ‘I'm very sorry that you've all been so disturbed, and for the mess.'

‘That's all right, miss.' Mrs Hawthorne marched across the room and slapped Ida's face, which had an immediate effect, and with a great hiccuping sigh she stopped crying. ‘Get a dustpan and brush and clear everything up before you go to your bed. I want my kitchen spick and span when I come down in the morning.' She walked off towards the servants' staircase. ‘I'm going to my bed. I'm getting too old for this sort of carry-on.'

Minutes later Mrs Dunkley reappeared, bringing with her the bottle of laudanum. She measured a few drops into a glass of water and handed it to Rosa. ‘You'd best get your aunt back to bed before she takes this, but it should have the desired effect quite quickly.'

‘Thank you, ma'am.' Rosa gave her a tremulous smile. ‘I hope this will remain within the kitchen walls. I wouldn't like to distress her ladyship with my family problems since we're guests in this house.'

‘I wouldn't count on that.' Miss Bradbury had entered the kitchen unnoticed and she stood in the doorway, taking in the scene with a sneer on her thin lips. ‘I think my mistress ought to be told about the behaviour of the persons to whom she has offered hospitality.'

‘I don't think it's your place, Bradbury,' Rosa said coldly. ‘I will explain things to her ladyship in the morning, and I'll be very displeased if I find that she has heard it from you first.' She gave the glass to Stella. ‘Perhaps a little now and the rest when my aunt is safe in bed.'

They managed to get Jacinta up the stairs to her room, and having taken the whole dose she grew calmer and lay back in bed closing her eyes.

‘This can't happen again,' Rosa said softly. ‘We must do something or she'll ruin everything, Stella.'

Jacinta remained unwell for the best part of a month. Stella nursed her devotedly, cutting down daily on the amount of laudanum that she took. She sat by her mother's bedside for hours at a time, having a one-sided conversation with her, or reading aloud from books borrowed from the Langhornes' library.

Rosa and Tommy had become inseparable, which apparently delighted Lady Langhorne but made Stella feel anxious. Much as she liked Tommy she was only too well aware of his faults and she worried for Rosa's future happiness, but she was quick to realise that there was nothing she could do or say that would make any difference. Tommy showed all the signs of a man deeply in love and Rosa was equally smitten.

There had been no news from London, and although Rosa was confident that Kit had matters in hand, Stella was not so sure. She studied the daily newspapers after they had been discarded by Sir Percy. She uttered sighs of relief when she scoured their pages for articles concerning the Rivenhall family and Heron Park and found nothing. Even so, she could not understand why Kit had not returned or at least sent word of his progress or otherwise.

The spring weather had warmed and brightened into a typically hot June and at last Jacinta was well enough for Stella to suggest that a drive in the country might be beneficial to her health. She had been longing to tell her mother that Belinda was living just a few miles away, but she had resisted the temptation, keeping the secret close until she was certain that Ma was in a fit state to withstand the shock. Even on the day she said nothing, keeping up the pretence that it was just an outing intended to bring the colour back to her mother's cheeks.

Rosa had persuaded Lady Langhorne that an outing would be beneficial to her Aunt Jacinta and speed up her recovery, and the brougham was duly brought round to the main entrance. James, the footman, assisted Jacinta into its commodious depths and Stella climbed in beside her. It was all she could do to stop herself from blurting out the real reason for their journey during the drive, but Jacinta settled against the luxurious leather squabs and gazed out of the window. Stella could only compare the calm, healthy-looking woman who sat opposite her with the drugged, sallow-faced person they had rescued from Heron Park. Now Ma looked much more like her old self, and there was a light in her dark eyes when she smiled, and a spring to her step. When Stella had first found her she had been shocked by her appearance, but now she looked like a beautiful woman in the prime of life, and soon she would be reunited with her younger daughter. The only thing that would have made the day perfect would have been if Freddie had been there too.

It was not until the coachman drew the matched pair of bays up outside the farm that Jacinta showed any sign of curiosity. ‘Why have we stopped here?'

‘I have friends who live on the farm, Ma. I thought you would like to meet them.'

Jacinta's eyes widened and she shook her head. ‘I'm not sure I'm ready to socialise, Stella. I've been very poorly.'

‘But you're better now, Ma. I think you'll find these people very much to your liking.' Stella moved forward making ready to alight as the coachman opened the door and put down the steps. ‘Thank you, Collins,' she said as he handed her from the carriage. ‘We'll be ready to return to Portgone Place at about three o'clock.'

He tipped his hat. ‘Yes, miss.'

‘Are you sure it's all right to turn up like this, Stella? What do we do if they are otherwise engaged or too busy to see us?'

‘It's a farm, Ma. There's always someone about and I sent word yesterday for them to expect us, so don't worry.' Stella took her mother's arm and led her into the yard. ‘Come along. I have a wonderful surprise for you.'

They crossed the yard and the joyous barks of the farm dogs brought Mr Hendy to the door. He came to meet them, smiling broadly. ‘Stella, my dear, it's wonderful to see you again.'

‘Mr Hendy, may I introduce you to my mother, Mrs Gervase Rivenhall?' Stella turned to her mother. ‘This is Mr Thaddeus Hendy, the gentleman who has been so kind to me in the past. I don't know where I would have been without him.'

Jacinta took his hand. ‘I thank you from the bottom of my heart for looking after my little girl, sir.'

He squeezed her fingers, holding on to her hand for longer than was strictly necessary. ‘Not just the one daughter, Mrs Rivenhall.' He turned towards the house and beckoned to the girl who had appeared in the doorway. ‘Come here, Belinda. There is someone very special who has come to see you.'

Belinda walked slowly towards them and Stella noted with satisfaction that she too looked much healthier than at their last meeting. Her skin glowed with youth and vitality and her eyes were bright. ‘Ma?' she whispered as she drew nearer. ‘Is it really you?'

‘I didn't tell her,' Mr Hendy said in a low voice. ‘I thought it best just in case you didn't turn up as arranged.'

The sight of her mother's happy face had momentarily robbed Stella of speech and she nodded wordlessly. Jacinta held out her arms and Belinda walked into them. ‘Ma.' They clung together sobbing.

‘Stella.' A voice from behind made Stella turn to see Bob standing in the doorway. He came towards her, followed more slowly by Maud. Stella realised then that she had not given him a thought since the last time they met, and a feeling of guilt assailed her. He was a good man and he deserved better.

He seized her hand, raising it to his lips. ‘You look well, my dear girl. We've missed you.'

‘We certainly have.' Breathless and panting, but with a delighted smile on her face, Maud caught up with him. ‘Thaddeus told us that you were coming today but we kept it secret from Belinda, just in case.' She enveloped Stella in a floury hug. ‘I've been making bread,' she said, shaking the white dust off her hands. ‘I've almost mastered it, haven't I, Bob?'

‘You have indeed, Maud.' He winked at Stella. ‘We could have built a barn with Maud's previous attempts but at least you won't break a tooth on her latest effort.'

Maud slapped him on the wrist. ‘You are a terrible tease, Bob Hendy. I know I'm not the best cook in the world but I haven't poisoned anyone yet.'

Bob slipped his arm around Stella's shoulders. ‘Come into the house. You can introduce me to your ma when she's more herself.' He glanced at Jacinta, who was hugging Belinda as if she would never let her go.

‘Yes, come inside.' Maud hurried on ahead. ‘I've left a loaf in the oven. I don't want it to burn.'

Bob linked Stella's hand through the crook of his arm. ‘You'll see a change in Maud. She's a different person now.'

‘I can see that, Bob. She used to be confused and frightened by the least thing.'

‘Not now. She seems to thrive on having something to do and people to look after. I have to admit that she is the world's worst cook, but I wouldn't tell her that for all the tea in China.'

Stella patted his hand. ‘You and your father have been so kind. I don't know what we would have done without you.'

He hesitated on the threshold, drawing her aside to allow the others to enter the house. ‘I was hoping that you might have changed your mind about us, Stella,' he said in a low voice.

‘Not now, Bob. This isn't the time or place.'

‘Before you leave here today you must tell me if I have a chance at all. My feelings for you haven't changed, but I can't go on like this.'

‘Please don't say any more.'

He glared at the carriage and the coachman who was sitting on the driver's seat smoking a pipe. ‘Are you too good for us now that you're living with the gentry?' He held the door open for her.

‘I'm just a servant. That's all I am to the Rivenhalls and the Langhornes. It's all I ever will be.'

He followed her into the kitchen. ‘Then maybe you'll think hard about what I have to offer you.'

She knew she should have been more frank with him in the past, but she was certain now that she did not love him and never could. Her heart belonged to a man who barely knew she existed, and was almost the complete opposite of reliable, hard-working and trustworthy Robert Hendy. Although she realised that the gulf between herself and Kit Rivenhall stretched into infinity, she knew now that she loved him with all her heart and soul. It was a sad fact that marriage between them was improbable to say the least. Gentlemen of his birth and breeding did not marry common girls from Limehouse. If they consorted with servants it invariably ended in disgrace and disaster for the girl in question. The River Thames had taken the lives of many a young woman who had been dismissed from her position when she admitted that she was with child. Mother and baby perished together in the murky waters or else starved to death in the gutter. There was no happy ending in sight for her.

Bob's anxious expression was wiped away by a cheerful smile as he walked into the kitchen. ‘This is a time for celebration,' he said, moving to the table where a bowl of fruit cup was surrounded by small glasses. He filled one and handed it to Stella. ‘Belinda picked the strawberries.'

‘And I selected the best apples from the store,' Belinda added proudly. ‘I pared them and sliced them. Bob said he had a surprise for me, but he didn't tell me it was you, Ma.'